/**
 * Copyright 2008 Adam Ruggles.
 * 
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 * 
 * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 * 
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
package kiff.security;

import java.io.Serializable;

/**
 * Permission interface.
 * @author Adam
 * @version $Id: Permission.java 38 2008-09-21 07:40:51Z a.ruggles $
 */
public interface Permission extends Serializable {
	/**
	 * Returns true if the permission values match the permission values of this class.
	 * @param permission The permission object to check.
	 * @return <code>true</code> if this object contains the same permissions as the permission object,
	 * <code>false</code> otherwise.
	 */
	boolean check(Permission permission);

	/**
	 * Returns true if the object specified matches the permission.
	 * @param obj the permission object to compare with.
	 * @return <code>true</code> if the permission objects are equal, <code>false</code> otherwise.
	 */
	boolean equals(Object obj);

	/**
	 * Returns a string representation of the permission.
	 * @return The string representation of the permission.
	 */
	String toString();
}
